Burnout operation conducted on Healy coal seam fire

The Alaska Division of Forestry conducted a burnout operation on the 2016 Louise Creek Fire, a 2,500-acre coal seam fire near Healy, on Friday.

Under the guidance of Incident Commander Cameron Winfrey, firefighters with the White Mountain Type 2 Initial Attack Crew burned more than 1,000 acres along 3 miles of dozer line to the north and west of the fire. The burnout was designed to deprive the fire of fuels (i.e. grass) and keep it contained within an old burn scar.

The operation went smoothly and a mapping mission will be conducted today to get a better size up of the burn. Here are some pictures Winfrey took of the operation.